The Captain Tom Moore Foundation is facing a further investigation regarding its payments, in particular payments made to Hannah Ingram-Moore.
It has been discovered that a company of Hannah Ingram-Moore received payments for her attendance at the Virgin Media Captain Tom Foundation Connector Awards. The event heavily featured the name of the Captain Tom Foundation, however, payment for Hannah Ingram-Moore’s attendance was paid to her company instead of the foundation. With the attendance being so closely linked to the foundation, it would appear more likely that the payment should have been made to the foundation for charitable purposes.
If Hannah Ingram-Moore was attending the event in her personal capacity, outside of her role at the Captain Tom Foundation, it would have been reasonable for the payment to have been made to her. However, at the time Hannah Ingram-Moore was acting as the interim CEO and her appearance would have likely been connected with that role. With Hannah Ingram-Moore being paid a salary as interim CEO, it would have been implicit in that arrangement that any external payment received during the course of that role was due to the foundation. This may have breached the terms of her engagement in that role and, if Hannah Ingram-Moore was also a trustee at the time, this would have been in breach of her duty as a trustee not to profit from her position.
What are the duties and responsibilities of a charity trustee?
When acting as a trustee of a charity, a person will be required to act in accordance with the duties of a trustee. These duties include, but are not limited to, the below:
- To act with reasonable care and skill and to take professional advice when needed;
- Ensuring you act, and the charity acts, in accordance with the charity’s purposes and in the best interests of those intended to benefit from the charity;
- Ensuring compliance with the charity’s governing documents and all legal requirements;
- To properly manage the charity’s assets, including income and expenditure;
- Not to profit from your position; and
- To deal with any conflicts of interest.
A trustee acting in breach of their duties is at risk of being removed as trustee and is exposed to being personally liable for any loss caused as a result of their actions.
Did Hannah Ingram-Moore Breach Her Duties To The Captain Tom Foundation?
When assessing the above duties in accordance with Hannah Ingram-Moore’s actions, it is clear more than one of the above duties may have been breached.
In particular, the payment received represents a clear conflict of interest and cannot be seen to be acting in the best interests of the charity as her position was used to personally benefit. Whilst Hannah Ingram-Moore is not a trustee, her actions may lead to her involvement with the charity coming to an end.
The investigation also raises concerns with Hannah Ingram-Moore’s husband, who is a trustee of the foundation, and also an owner of the company payments were made to.
How can Nelsons help
Stuart Parris is an Associate in our expert Dispute Resolution team.
If you require any advice on the above subjects, please contact Stuart or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
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